I would hope the mac let is be known if they leave for football they can find new conferences for the rest of sports.
I’d be surprised if either accepts. Seems like a bad deal for a conference that is only marginally more relevant than the MAC after the new pac departures.
The Colonial is now the Coastal. It is FCS.
1000% this 
If they don’t want to be in the MAC for football then they aren’t in the MAC at all. Unless they are willing to fork over a signficant annual payment of course.
Interesting. I didn’t know they’d dropped.
I can’t imagine that Toledo and NIU would be welcome to continue as MAC members in other sports if they choose to accept an MWC offer for football.
I vaguely remember NIU leaving the MAC back in the late-80s, then coming back in the 90s… Toledo joining the MWC to play
Air Force
UNLV
New Mexico
Nevada
San José State
Texas State
Wyoming
Hawaii
Doesn’t seem to be that big of a value add, but who knows …
I’ve written on this board that I think we’ll see an EPL-type Superconference, where the big dogs get together and split a huge pot of cash, and the little dogs go back into regional play that existed prior to the whole college playoff system.
Its funny looking at NIU’s board and thinking that they add any great value to the MAC, or any school for that matter. We’re all wallowing in the same stew…
The schools that left the MWC to join the Pac10 have to pay major exit fees. So the MWC is going to be able to throw a lot of money around in attracting new members. Obviously it’s all speculation at this point though. But to think that they are only a marginally more attractive conference than the MAC may be short-sighted in lieu of their imminent windfall of capital.
From what’s been reported, they’re already guaranteed 90 mil in exit fees, but there’s a chance they could receive an additional 55 mil depending on how a lawsuit between them and the Pac10 plays out.
At the end of the day though, they’re still the MAC of the West. I’d expect that the only conferences to ever seen any INCREASE in TV revenue from here on out are the B10 and SEC
It is wild the MWC negotiated a 5m/school TV deal in 2020 while we’re only getting 800k-1m/school until 2026.
We need to negotiate a FAR better deal with ESPN if they want their November MACtion in the future.
I beg to disagree - competitively, brand recognition and general commitment are vastly different.
Trade those for…
Akron
Kent
Ball St
Eastern MI
Central MI
Western MI
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Really? Long way to travel, maybe not financially a good move (although TV contract currently double the MAC) and abandons all other sports but there’s a huge difference.
The future MWC would be a big downgrade in football travel costs, instability for non-football sports, and a marginal increase in money/competition at best. That’s not even including the downgrade to the fans in travel, competitive interest, and time zone differences (though those aren’t a true factor in decisions). Hard pass if I were NIU/Toledo, this ain’t the 2009 conference with TCU/Utah/BYU.
Air Force – Big name
UNLV – Medium name
New Mexico – Small
Nevada – Small
San José State – Small
Texas State – Minuscule
Wyoming – Small
Hawaii – Big name, bitch of a team to travel to
I just don’t see it being worth the aggravation.
MAC will survive losing NIU. They, like Buffalo, aren’t really in the territory. Real geography and #MACtion will be the league’s future value, as “Power 4” continues to collapse on itself’; some folks will watch the product to get a bit of sanity.
Anyone know what the MACs exit fee is?
4 dollars.
If UT and NIU think they can jerk us around, they will find themselves on a deserted island for most of the sports. Not a good place to be.
While I appreciate the stability of the MAC, I have hoped for years that we could find another conference that is not weighted down by some of the worse D1 programs. Our wins vs some cellar dwellers negatively impact our strength of schedule and seeding in the NCAA bball tournament. We do not dominate in the 2 major sports but are still recognized as a upper level G5 athletic department. And our history and facilities are certainly among the best in G5 and can compete with many P3,4 or 5. We would add value to another conference in the way that Northwestern, Vandy, Ga Tech, Rice and others do for other conferences.
I would not oppose the MAC reducing the number of schools by cutting programs that actually diminish the MAC brand. Seeing our schools being beaten 56-0, or worse, in a money game in fball, does nothing but heap more negativity on all of us by association.
Despite all this talk, I don’t think anything will change. UT and NIU can not be independents or associate members in another conference for some Olympic sports.
Were you around for the Treadwell era?
I think NIU and Toledo would play their other sports in the Horizon league (Wright st and Cleveland st). The geography works fine. After Butler and Valpo left it was a way worse basketball league but then MAC basketball regressed mightily over the last two years
Why would NIU and Toledo do it- it would have to be the TV money/ exposure. But I dont think they are getting any of the exit fee money. UNLV and Air Force are getting half of that money to stay in the league. Schools generally pay money to enter new leagues - they dont get paid to do so